Sunset Shimmer
with a sclera (as a demon) |hair = with stripes (human, Equestria Girls and Rainbow Rocks) with stripes (Rainbow Rocks encore shorts onward) |coat = (human) (demon) |voice = Rebecca Shoichet |race = Unicorn Human |caption = Sunset Shimmer in her My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Friendship Games artwork |residence = Human world |occupation = Student at Canterlot High School Rainbooms' rhythm guitarist and back-up vocalist |other names = Daydream Shimmer |cutie mark = }} Sunset Shimmer is a former antagonist introduced in My Little Pony Equestria Girls. She is a student at Canterlot High School and one of the main and supporting characters in My Little Pony Equestria Girls. Development and design An image of human Sunset Shimmer that appears on the back of the Equestria Girls Sunset Shimmer & Twilight Sparkle doll release's packaging was posted online in mid-March 2013. On March 19, 2013, Meghan McCarthy was asked "Is Sunset Shimmer going to be a Season 4 storyline? The fact that her backstory seems like a show plot" and responded "Nope." On April 1, 2013, McCarthy wrote as part of an April Fools' Day joke that Friendship is Magic season four episode five would be titled "The Student Becomes the Teacher: The Return of Sunset Shimmer". In early April 2015, Ishi Rudell stated that Sunset Shimmer's phienix-like appearance at the end of My Past is Not Today was a visual metaphor and that "her hair is lighter... We wanted to tone her color intensity down a bit with the design of her new outfit." In early May 2015, Rudell stated that "Sunset Shimmers sic residency has been discussed... Perhaps one day it will be revealed." Depiction in films My Little Pony Equestria Girls Sunset Shimmer first appears as the main antagonist in My Little Pony Equestria Girls. She steals Twilight Sparkle's element of magic crown and during a tussle with Twilight, the crown is thrown into the Crystal Mirror that acts as a portal to another world. She then follows the crown shortly after. Princess Celestia reveals that Sunset was a former student of hers who began her studies not long before Twilight did. However, when she didn't get what she desired as quickly as she wanted, she turned cruel and dishonest, eventually abandoning her studies to pursue her own path. In this other world, Sunset has been living as a human and student at Canterlot High School for some time. She discovers that Fluttershy found the crown and turned it over to Principal Celestia, much to Sunset's annoyance. After learning that Twilight will be competing against her for the title of Princess of the Fall Formal, Sunset employs various ways to hinder and humiliate Twilight. She has Snips and Snails record embarrassing videos of Twilight struggling to get used to the human world and releases the videos online, and she doctors photos to frame Twilight for ruining the dance decorations. But Twilight's friends help to counter these ploys by improving Twilight's reputation, and Flash Sentry, Sunset Shimmer's ex-boyfriend, helps prove Twilight's innocence. At the Fall Formal, when Twilight is named princess and given the crown, Sunset has Snips and Snails kidnap Spike and threatens to destroy the portal to Equestria unless Twilight gives her the crown. Twilight refuses to give the crown up, stating that her being stuck in the human world would be worth stopping Sunset. As Twilight's friends commend her bravery and sacrifice, Sunset snaps and attacks her. Despite Twilight and her friends' efforts, Sunset succeeds in getting the crown and puts it on, and a dark magic aura transforms her into a demon. With her newfound powers, Sunset transforms Snips and Snails into similar-looking minions and brainwashes the other students at the school. She reveals that she never intended to destroy the portal and plans to invade and conquer Equestria with her army of teenagers. Twilight is able to evoke the powers of the Elements of Harmony when her friends move to protect her from Sunset Shimmer's attack. Temporarily given pony-like characteristics, they use the magic of friendship to defeat Sunset Shimmer and return Snips, Snails, and the rest of the students to normal. As everyone recovers, a beaten and repentant Sunset is reduced to tears and apologizes to everyone she's hurt. She admits to not knowing anything about friendship, to which Twilight says her friends can teach her. Sunset, Snips, and Snails are later tasked by Vice Principal Luna with rebuilding the part of school they had destroyed during their attack. 'My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks' Sunset Shimmer re-appears in Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks, reformed from her villainous ways in the first film. With the exception of the Rainbooms, the rest of Canterlot High bears resentment toward her, and she even resents herself for the actions she'd taken as what she refers to as a "raging she-demon." She even admits to herself and her friends that she never had a romantic interest in Flash Sentry and only dated him to make herself more popular. When Sunset gives the Dazzlings a tour of the school, she gets a bad vibe from them when Adagio Dazzle gets defensive about her pendant. Her suspicions are later confirmed when the Dazzlings mesmerize the students and faculty with their singing. Using a magical book with her cutie mark on the cover, Sunset sends an SOS to Princess Celestia in Equestria. During Twilight's role as the Rainbooms' lead singer, Sunset acts in a supportive role and keeps an eye on the competition, especially the Dazzlings during the Battle of the Bands. At one point, Sunset confronts the Dazzlings, who try to manipulate her insecurities by pointing out that the Rainbooms were reluctant to allow Sunset into the band. When the Rainbooms lash out at each other during the final round of the Battle of the Bands, Sunset realizes what the Dazzlings' true intentions are and is able to stop the petty arguing. She even accepts partial blame due to her lack of knowledge on friendship. When the Dazzlings overpower the Rainbooms during the film's climax, Sunset Shimmer steps up and sings on the band's behalf. Her help not only gives the Rainbooms the strength they need to defeat the Dazzlings, but she also undergoes a half-pony transformation like her friends. Afterward, Sunset joins the band as a singer and guitarist, and she uses her old journal that she communicated with Princess Celestia through to write her friendship lessons to Princess Twilight Sparkle. During Shine Like Rainbows, the rest of the school now accepts Sunset. The Crusaders walk happily with her after Apple Bloom catches her journal when it falls out of her backpack, and Bulk Biceps helps her get Angel down from a hard-to-reach perch. 'My Past is Not Today' Sunset Shimmer is the central focus of the musical short My Past is Not Today, having solo vocals during the titular song. In the song, Sunset sings of how misguided her goals were during the first film and letting go of the past. Likening her reawakening to that of a phoenix, Sunset concludes the song by sprouting fiery magical wings. 'Friendship Through the Ages' Sunset appears throughout the musical short Friendship Through the Ages and has minor vocals during the song. She interacts with the Rainbooms one by one before meeting them in a warm group hug at the end. 'My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Friendship Games' Sunset Shimmer appears in Equestria Girls: Friendship Games, competing on the Wondercolts' team in the Friendship Games' motocross event. She is tasked with keeping magic out of the event, but she gets worried that she might fail at understanding how magic works in the human world and that she doesn't have Princess Twilight to help her with her task. When human Twilight's device starts gathering magic from the main characters and she releases it under pressure from Principal Cinch, she becomes overwhelmed and corrupted by the power. Sunset uses the device to harness the magic of friendship from her friends to stop Twilight's rampage. In the end, Sunset realizes that she is fully capable of solving her own problems and that she can't always count on someone else to do it for her. The deleted scenes on the DVD reveal a scrapped subplot of the film about Sunset being homesick for her life in Equestria and considering returning. 'The Science of Magic' In this short, Sunset decides to experiment on her friends to see why they pony up whenever they play music. Unfortunately, she finds her results inconclusive. Other depictions 'IDW comics' An eight-page featurette included with My Little Pony Annual 2013, titled The Fall of Sunset Shimmer, details Sunset Shimmer's last days as Princess Celestia's student. Like Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer is a magical prodigy. However, unlike Twilight, she's quite boastful and condescending toward others, despite Celestia's lessons about humility. Celestia shows Sunset the Crystal Mirror; in it, Sunset sees herself as a powerful Alicorn—one who could rule Equestria. Sunset briefly sees something else in the mirror, but Celestia guides her away from it before she gets too curious. During the weeks that follow, the mirror is all Sunset can think about, and Celestia repeatedly tells her that she'll learn about the mirror and other lessons "when she's ready". Not convinced, an undeterred Sunset Shimmer begins researching the mirror in a dark magical library behind Celestia's back but is soon caught by the princess and her royal guards. Sunset berates her teacher for hiding such magic from her and demands to be made a princess. Celestia refuses, saying that being a princess must be earned, and removes Sunset from her position as her student and banishes her from Canterlot Castle. She has the royal guards escort Sunset out of the castle, but Sunset overpowers the guards and escapes through the mirror. As Celestia has the mirror moved to her throne room, Sunset Shimmer emerges in the human world as a teenage girl. In the Equestria Girls comic of IDW's Annual 2013, Sunset Shimmer interviews the human counterparts of Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack for a story for the school paper, but her expression at the end of the comic suggests a far more sinister motive. In the My Little Pony: Equestria Girls Holiday Special comic, Sunset Shimmer has no one close to be with during the holidays. Her friends cheer her up with a series of slumber parties. In the wake of this, an online persona named "Anon-a-Miss" starts making disparaging posts and comments about Canterlot High students in social media, and Sunset is the prime suspect. Through Twilight Sparkle's advice, Sunset convinces her friends that she isn't "Anon-a-Miss". Later, when "Anon-a-Miss" is revealed to be the Crusaders, Sunset forgives them for their misguided actions. 'Chapter books' Sunset Shimmer is featured as the main antagonist in the My Little Pony Equestria Girls film screenplay novelization My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Through the Mirror. In chapter 18, "Back to Equestria", "Twilight had noticed Sunset going around the gym, apologizing to several students. Luckily, most of them had no idea what she was talking about because they'd been in a trance during her little fiery tantrum. But it still showed that she wanted to change." Sunset Shimmer is featured as a protagonist in the My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks film screenplay novelization My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks: The Mane Event. In chapter 20, "Battle of the Bands", her half-pony transformation includes wings. Sunset Shimmer is featured as the main protagonist in Sunset Shimmer's Time to Shine. Wanting to find her place in a world without magic, she decides to become a "magic investigator" and study her friends' pony transformations in great scientific detail. She also helps her friends organize a school fundraiser to raise money for new Wondercolt uniforms. Sunset Shimmer is featured in the novel Twilight's Sparkly Sleepover Surprise. She meets up with Sci-Twi multiple times in the novel. 'Software' Sunset Shimmer is in Hasbro's Equestria Girls app. Of Hasbro's online games, Sunset Shimmer appears as a human in the Equestria Girls game See Yourself as an Equestria Girl, appears both as a pony and as a human in the Equestria Girls game Dash for the Crown, appears as a pony in the game Memory Match Game, and appears as a human in the Equestria Girls games See Yourself as an Equestria Girl - Rockified and V.I.F. Hasbro online descriptions On April 26, 2015, Hasbro's My Little Pony Facebook page referred to Sunset Shimmer as Princess Cadance's former student, edited the post twenty-one minutes later to instead identify Sunset Shimmer as a version of Princess Cadance, and re-edited the post thirty-two subsequent minutes later. 'Hasbro.com Equestria Girls description' Sunset Shimmer rules Canterlot High with an iron hoof...uhh hand. There’s no one in the school more feared, manipulative and dishonest than her. And she doesn’t care who she has to intimidate, frighten, or push around to keep it that way. But this year, there’s a new challenger, and Twilight Sparkle might be the one who finally dethrones her. 'Hasbro.com Rainbow Rocks description' A loyal friend with a good heart, Sunset Shimmer is always looking out for what’s best for the Rainbooms. She made some mistakes in the past, but now she wants to prove to everyone they can trust her. 'Hasbro.com Rainbow Rocks Encore description' Sunset Shimmer is a former bully turned nice. Now she’s ready to mend sic her friendships and cheer on their band, despite feeling out of place sometimes. Will she ever feel like part of the group? Stay tuned. 'Hasbro.com Friendship Games description' Even though Sunset Shimmer is fully integrated into the Equestria Girls group, she still has insecurities about where she belongs, but the rest of the Mane 6 friends consider her to be one of them. Merchandise An Equestria Girls human doll of Sunset Shimmer was released with another such doll of Twilight Sparkle and other items, including an element of magic crown accessory. Sunset Shimmer's description on the back of the release's packaging reads, "Her striking sense of fashion steals a lot of attention!" Two human Sunset Shimmer dolls have been released for My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks: one in a fashion set with an extra outfit and a "Time to Shine" doll with wings. Another two human Sunset Shimmer dolls have been released for My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Friendship Games: one being a "Sporty Style" and the other one being a "School Spirit" doll. On the respective front and back of a printed insert bundled in the Barnes & Noble Special Edition of the chapter book My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Sunset Shimmer's Time to Shine, a letter to Sunset Shimmer from Rarity includes some concept art of human Sunset Shimmer wearing her rock star dress and a letter to Rarity from Sunset Shimmer includes a draft of the song My Past is Not Today. A doll of Sunset Shimmer wearing her outfit from the first two films for the "Equestria Girls Minis" toyline is scheduled to release at an unknown date. Personality Throughout the first film, Sunset Shimmer is shown to be self-absorbed, condescending, manipulative, and dishonest. She frequently insults and belittles others and thinks little of it. According to human Fluttershy, Sunset makes life miserable for "anyone who stands in her way." As a result, most of the Canterlot High School student body is afraid of her. She is also not above making threats and blackmail in order to realize her goals. When Sunset puts on the element of magic, she transforms into a demonic visage of herself. While in this form, she becomes more ruthless, going so far as attempting to dispose of Twilight. After she is defeated, Sunset Shimmer becomes immediately repentant and apologizes for her actions, appearing to renounce her prior dishonest and unkind ways. In the second film, Sunset Shimmer has completely discarded her old self and starts believing in friendship, being kind toward others and befriending former enemies. She is also deeply repentant for her actions in the first film, referring to her transformed self as a "raging she-demon". However, she suffers from a lack of confidence, keeping silent in situations she feels it isn't her place to speak up and falling prey to the Dazzlings' taunting. During the final battle, she finally overcomes her insecurities and joins the Rainbooms in defeating the Dazzlings, gaining a half-pony form in the process. By the end of Rainbow Rocks, Sunset starts writing friendship reports to Princess Twilight using the book she once used to communicate with Princess Celestia. By the third film, while Sunset has managed to fully integrate herself into the group and take mentions of what she did in the past with good humor, she also harbors a fear of losing her school's newly gained trust, and she becomes deeply depressed when she believes she has let them down, despite their assurances. She also becomes increasingly irritated and stressed by her struggles to understand how magic works in the human world, briefly snapping at her friends at one point. When Sci-Twi endangers her friends, Sunset's anger explodes as she berates Twilight for meddling with forces she doesn't understand, taking her own frustrations and self-doubt out on her. However, she immediately regrets her harsh words and reaches out to Twilight in friendship by the end of the film. In the My Little Pony: Equestria Girls Holiday Special comic, Sunset Shimmer displays a forgiving and compassionate side when she forgives the Crusaders for framing her as the rumormonger "Anon-a-Miss". In Sunset Shimmer's Time to Shine, Sunset displays a considerable level of intelligence, being ahead of her friends and classmates in school and smart enough to develop various computer applications. Her affinity for science and research is also seen in The Science of Magic, where she explains she prefers a hands-on approach to studying magic over "studying ancient books". Quotes Gallery References es:Sunset Shimmer pl:Sunset Shimmer pt-br:Sunset Shimmer Category:Female characters Category:Students from Canterlot High Category:Supporting characters Category:Reformed characters Category:Featured articles Category:Musicians